Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University College London, UK

Research Fellow(1974-1979)

University of L’Aquila, Italy

Professional Societies

· AIChE, American Institute of Chemical Engineers

·AIDIC, Italian Chemical Engineering Society

Selected Activities

- Coordinator of the EU project UNIQUE 211517 (2007 – present) on “Integration of particulate abatement, removal of trace elements and tar reforming in one biomass steam gasification reactor yielding high purity syngas for efficient CHP and power plants”. This project has been funded by the European Commission as a result of the first Energy call of the 7th EU Framework Programme, getting 14.5/15 in the evaluation by the referees, the very best score among thousands of proposals that have been presented from all over Europe. The main objective of the project is to develop a compact version of a gasifier by integrating the fluidized bed steam gasification of biomass and the hot gas cleaning and conditioning system into one reactor vessel.

- Coordinator of the EU funded project JOR3-CT2000-0314 (2001 – 2004) “Biomass-gasification and fuel-cell coupling via high-temperature gas clean-up for decentralised electricity generation with improved efficiency”. The Trisaia biomass gasification pilot plant (500 kWth) has been equipped with a gas cleaning section needed to feed the fuel gas to a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). In addition, research activities included further studies on the catalyst reactivity, integrated system simulation and CFD modelling of the gasifier.

- Leader of the University of L’Aquila research group in the EU funded project JOR3-CT98-0196 (1998 – 2000) “Hydrogen-rich gas from biomass steam gasification”. A 500 kWth pilot unit has been built based on a dual, internally circulating fluidised bed gasifier, able to produce a fuel gas with high calorific value (almost negligible nitrogen content). The plant is located in the Trisaia research centre of ENEA. The gasification tests carried out at L’Aquila University allowed to verify the performance of a newly developed Nickel catalyst to be utilised in the gasifier bed inventory for tar cracking and reforming and to enhance the hydrogen content in the product gas.

- Coordinator of the EU funded project JOR3-CT95-0037 (1995 – 1997) “Production of hydrogen-rich gas by biomass gasification: application to small-scale, fuel cell electricity generation in rural areas”. Beyond the coordination of the whole project, the research group worked to the feasibility of the integrated plant and to the cost analysis.

- Leader of the University of L’Aquila group in the TEMPUS IV EU Project “Chemical Engineering: Curriculum development and international recognition” (2009 - ).

- Director of studies in Chemical Engineering at the University of L’Aquila (2000 – 2003).

- Member of the Administrative Council of the University of L’Aquila (2004 – 2007).

- Dean of the Engineering Faculty at the University of L’Aquila (2007 - present).

- Member of scientific committee of numerous international conferences, among these the World Chemical Engineering Conference (Glascow – UK – August 2007), and the Int. Conf. on Polygeneration Strategies (Vienna – Austria – September 2009).

- Chairman of the scientific committee of the Fluid-Particle Interaction Conference, Davos, Switzerland, May 1993, organised by Engineering Foundation, New York.

- Co-Chairman of the International Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering, ISCRE25, Florence, May 2018.